Please help--proper tense...

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kramer31 - 29 Sep 2010 11:59 GMT

Which is correct? Love to know which of the following verb tenses is
correct and why. I'm discussing an argument that I made at one time
about what should happen from that point forward. A little tricky...

a) I argued that the software was quite complicated, and therefore
experienced developers should be used or the new developers should be
co-located so that issues could be addressed as promptly as possible.
b) I argued that the software was quite complicated, and therefore
experienced developers be used or the new developers be co-located so
that issues could be addressed as promptly as possible.
c) I argued that the software was quite complicated, and therefore
experienced developers should have been used or the new developers
should have been co-located so that issues could be addressed as
promptly as possible.

Any help is appreciated.

Cheers!

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A.Clews@DENTURESsussex.ac.uk - 29 Sep 2010 14:16 GMT

> Which is correct? Love to know which of the following verb tenses is
> correct and why. I'm discussing an argument that I made at one time
> about what should happen from that point forward. A little tricky...

> a) I argued that the software was quite complicated, and therefore
> experienced developers should be used or the new developers should be
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> should have been co-located so that issues could be addressed as
> promptly as possible.

I would say (a) is the correct version, because you're saying you made a
strong recommendation ("should") that developers be used.

(b) doesn't sound quite right because "...developers be used..." sounds like
you had insisted, rather than recommended that the developers be brought
in.

In (c) it sounds like you had said in the argument that the issues had
already been addressed by that time but not with the help of experienced
developers.

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Andy Clews
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John Lawler - 29 Sep 2010 17:23 GMT

On Sep 29, 6:16 am, A.Cl...@DENTURESsussex.ac.uk wrote:

> > Which is correct? Love to know which of the following verb tenses is
> > correct and why. I'm discussing an argument that I made at one time
[quoted text clipped - 24 lines]
> Andy Clews
> *** Remove DENTURES if replying by email ***

I think Andy's got it.

The last one is only appropriate after the fact. "Should have been V-
ed"
is saying what went wrong and solving the problem too late.

The second one is just ungrammatical. "Argue" *can* take an infinitive
complement (I argued to take it down), but after a That-complement
has already been used, you can't switch complement type and still
do Conjunction Reduction on the object complements.

So the first one, which is grammatical and makes sense in context
(assuming it's not too late), is the right one. I think. More context
is always useful in making these decisions.

-John Lawler http://www.umich.edu/~jlawler
Getting an education is a bit like a communicable sexual
disease. It makes you unsuitable for a lot of jobs, and
then you have the urge to pass it on. -- Terry Pratchett

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Mark Brader - 29 Sep 2010 18:18 GMT

"Kramer":

A is right. B is the wrong construction and C implies that you were
arguing about actions that were already in the past.

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Mark Brader | "What ever happened to the concept of 'less is more'?"
Toronto | "Ah, but if less is more, then just think how much
msb@vex.net | more more would be." -- Frasier (David Lloyd)

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Discussion Groups / English Usage / September 2010

Please help--proper tense...